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Health-conscious consumers in the UK will be pleased to learn that an award-winning range of Irish wholefood burgers will soon be available in their local food halls and health food stores. Deirdre Collins is delighted to announce that Dee’s Wholefood Burgers are about to be launched in the UK after a lucrative distribution deal was agreed with Marigold Health Foods.

The official UK launch of the brand will take place in London’s Olympia in April, when food buyers from across Europe descend on the Natural & Organic Products trade fair – one of the health food industry’s key annual events. Widely-recognised as being one of the most successful business ideas showcased on the 2009 season of Dragons’ Den, Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy range has been steadily growing in popularity among a diverse customer base of vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs and anyone keen to follow a healthy balanced diet.

Deirdre says the London launch event will be yet another positive step forward for her business: “Over the last two years, it’s been full steam ahead for the company and our brand. We’ve recently hired two new staff and increased the number of stockists we supply across Ireland. At this stage, we’re in the chilled grocery departments of the main supermarket multiples and convenience stores, including Dunnes Stores, Tesco, SuperValu, Centra and Superquinn.

We’re also stocked by numerous independent health stores and gourmet food halls throughout the country. Now that ‘Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy’ logo has become a familiar sight in retail outlets throughout Ireland, we’re thrilled to announce that we’re taking the next step by beginning to export. It’s certainly an exciting time for the business”.

In the medium term, Deirdre aims to further boost her company’s export sales by launching on the continental European market. While a distribution deal has yet to be agreed, the UCC Food Science and Nutrition graduate is hopeful that 2011 could see her wholefood range being introduced to an even broader consumer market. “We believe we’ll also soon be in a position to launch the range on the continental European market. Our organic Omega Burgers and organic Spicy Bean Burgers are suitable for vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs and anyone who realises the importance of following a healthy balanced diet – this is definitely a growing segment of the Irish market.

However, there’s an even more established market for wholefood products across continental Europe. Despite the wide range of healthy food products available on the European market, our products are still considered unique. That’s because, unlike some vegetarian products, we only use natural, non-processed ingredients such as protein rich seeds, wholegrains and vegetables – the type of simple healthy ingredients that you would find in your own kitchen.

The ‘Eat Well, Be Happy’ range is not just meat-free, but also wheat-free, gluten-free and made without using dairy ingredients, soy or eggs. What’s more, there’s no added salt or sugar. Our niche market position, and the fact that there’s a growing interest in family-friendly healthy food throughout Europe, is likely to help us secure further export agreements during 2011. We’re certainly full of enthusiasm for the future as our official launch in the UK approaches!”

ENDS Contact: Deirdre Collins Tel: 086 083 15 00 Email:
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For additional press information, please contact: Conor Hyde, Bullseye Food Marketing on 021 4776644 or 087 6539676. Notes to Editor / More About Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy: We are the first company in Ireland to create an innovative range of fresh, organic, wholefood burgers. Our burgers are perfect for consumers who crave a healthy burger that is not full of artificial additives and animal fats. Based in West Cork, we use only the very finest fresh vegetables, unrefined grains and seeds to create the most natural, nutritious, best-tasting wholefood burgers available anywhere. This is convenient healthy food you know you can trust! All our burgers have a high nutritional health value and are meat-free, wheat-free and gluten-free. They don’t contain any dairy, soy or eggs either! We don’t use salt in cooking so naturally, the salt content is very, very low. And, Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy is approved by the Coeliac Society of Ireland.

Dee's Wholefoods participated on the IEA's Channel Clusters Programme in 2010. This project was made possible through a financial contribution from the European Regional Development Fund Ireland Wales (INTERREG 4A) Programme 2007 - 2013.